Monday, December 23, 2024
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Ranking the 11 (eleven!) times Cristiano Ronaldo has scored four or more goals in a game

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After taking time to find his feet, Cristiano Ronaldo is now firmly up and running in the Saudi Pro League with five goals in his first three games for new club Al Nassr.

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After drawing a blank on his league debut against Ettifaq, Ronaldo opened his account with a maiden goal in a 2-2 draw with Al-Fateh last week. The Portugal captain then took centre-stage by scoring all four goals in Al Nassr’s 4-0 rout of Al Wehda on Thursday — a comprehensive result that returned his side to the top of the table on goal difference.

Ronaldo’s opening goal against Al-Wehda was also enough to see the ever-prolific veteran reach the landmark of 500 league goals, and by full-time he had taken his overall career tally to 503.

It also marked the 14th consecutive year that the former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward has registered a hat trick in a competitive club game. Incredibly, Ronaldo has now scored more hat tricks since he turned 30 years of age (31) than he did in his teens and 20s combined (30).

Ronaldo has now scored four goals or more in a single game for club and country 11 times, with the 38-year-old hitting four goals on nine occasions and twice registering five in a match.

To put that in perspective, none of Ronaldo’s contemporaries can match his tally with Lionel Messi having scored four (or more) goals in a single game “only” 8 times. Luis Suarez has scored four goals or more on nine occasions (including an impressive six-goal haul during his Ajax days) while the likes of Robert Lewandowski and Neymar (five), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (four), Harry Kane, Erling Haaland (two) and Mohamed Salah (one) are languishing far behind.

Prior to his virtuoso showing for Al Nassr this week, Ronaldo’s previous four-goal extravaganza came when he hit a quadruple in Portugal’s 5-1 Euro 2020 qualifier win Lithuania in September 2019. You have to go back to his Real Madrid days to find the last time that he scored what is known in some parts as a “poker” at club level, against Girona in LaLiga in March 2018.

Here’s a rundown of all 11 of Ronaldo’s four- (and five-) goal hauls over the years, ranked!

11. Real Madrid vs. Racing Santander (October 2010)

The very first foul-goal haul of Ronaldo’s career came for Real Madrid in a thumping 6-1 victory over Racing Santander in what was his second season at the Bernabeu after completing his world-record £80 million transfer from Manchester United.

10. Sevilla vs. Real Madrid (May 2011)

The second came later that same campaign as Real bowled Sevilla over at the Eastadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, winning 6-2 as Ronaldo contributed four goals on the night to take his 2010-11 season tally to 33 goals overall.

9. Real Madrid vs. Elche (September 2014)

Ronaldo weighed in with four goals in a 5-1 victory that actually began with Madrid falling behind to an early Edu Albacar penalty before turning to their main man to resolve the situation with two penalties, a header and a calm right-footed finish to seal the deal.

8. Al-Wehda vs. Al-Nassr (February 2023)

Ronaldo celebrated his 38th birthday in typical style by blasting home all four goals in a comfortable win against mid-table Al-Wehda to send his new side back to the summit of the Saudi Pro League.

7. Real Madrid vs. Celta Vigo (March 2016)

It took Ronaldo less than half an hour to complete his night’s work against Celta, scoring four goals between the 50th and 76th minute in what proved to be a heavy 7-1 victory for Los Blancos. The whirlwind began with a spectacular long-range effort before Ronaldo doubled his tally six minutes later with a brilliantly executed 20-yard free kick.

6. Portugal vs. Andorra (October 2016)

Portugal thrashed Andorra 6-0 during their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign as Ronaldo scored four goals in a single game (including two goals in the opening four minutes) at international level for the very first time.

5. Lithuania vs. Portugal (September 2019)

Ronaldo took his international goal tally to 93 with a four-goal display in a 5-1 win against Lithuania on the road to Euro 2020 qualification. While one nation have technically conceded more Ronaldo goals over the years (Luxembourg: nine goals in seven games), his seven goals notched against Lithuania have come in the space of just two games.

4. Real Madrid vs. Malmo (December 2015)

He may be the all-time top scorer in the Champions League, but the only four-goal performance that Ronaldo has ever mustered at the elite level of continental competition came as part of Real’s 8-0 decimation of Malmo in 2015-16, a remarkable result that equalled the record for the biggest-ever group-stage victory.

3. Real Madrid vs. Girona (March 2018)

The sixth of six occasions on which Ronaldo hit four goals or more for Real Madrid in LaLiga came towards the end of his goal-laden stint in the Spanish capital, with the Portuguese striker notching his 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd goals of the season (and his 50th career hat trick) in a resounding 6-3 victory for Los Blancos.

2. Real Madrid vs. Granada (April 2015)

The first time Ronaldo amassed five goals in a single game in his entire career came for Real as part of a 9-1 obliteration of Granada in LaLiga. The one-man onslaught began after 30 minutes and culminated with Ronaldo adding his fifth and Real’s ninth goal in 90th minute, rising to head home a Luka Modric free kick.

1. Espanyol vs. Real Madrid (September 2015)

The goal-hungry forward then repeated the feat early the following season as he powered home five goals and provided an assist in a 6-0 humiliation of Espanyol to become the only player in history to score five goals in a single LaLiga match twice, and all in the space of just four months.


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